Recently, the ferroelectric liquid crystal is watched with attention, in place of a TN type liquid crystal and a display apparatus utilizing it is now under development.
The display mode of ferroelectric liquid crystal includes the complex refraction type display mode and guest host type display mode. On the occasion of driving these display modes, unlike the conventional TN type liquid crystal, the driving method which has been used for the TN type liquid crystal cannot be employed because the display condition (contrast) is controlled depending on the direction of applying electric field and therefore a special driving method is required.
Moreover, when the service life of display apparatus is considered, it is not desirable that the DC element is applied for a long period to the display element and accordingly the driving method considering it is necessary.
A driving method not allowing application of such DC element to the display element for a long period is disclosed in the "SID' 85 Digest" (1985) (P. 131-P. 134). Moreover, the Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 60-176097 discloses a method for driving display apparatus which realizes bistability of display with a driving electrical signal utilizing the ferroelectric liquid crystal having the AC stabilizing effect.